Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy says that, although COP26 was not the ‘finance COP’ hoped for ahead of the Glasgow meeting, it nevertheless did yield “a good, solid work programme” for defining the post-2025 finance goal and for ensuring that the prevailing $100-billion climate finance commitment is in fact implemented. Ahead of the gathering, South Africa prioritised the securing of an ambitious finance goal and had even suggested that the figure pledged by developed countries to developing countries be progressively increased to $750-billion by 2030.
South Africa’s energy regulator and energy minister have been sued by environmental activists over national plans to allow the construction of new coal-fired power plants. Plans for the construction of 1 500 megawatts of coal-fired generation capacity are included in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity and a ministerial determination passed on September 25 last year.
Macquarie-managed UK Climate Investments (UKCI) and Norfund are financing a joint venture (JV) between H1 Holdings and Pele Green Energy to fund a 40% equity participation in a 700 MW portfolio of onshore wind farms. Both partners will invest alongside Enel Green Power in one of South Africa’s largest renewable energy equity deals valued at about $100-million.
Eskom has confirmed that Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented from 14:00 on Wednesday November 17, until 5:00 on Saturday November 20. CEO Andre de Ruyter announced the latest round of load-shedding at the tail-end of a briefing initially called to warn of possible rotational power cuts, owing to the a surge in unplanned outages to 14 444 MW, while planned maintenance was being performed on units with a combined capacity of 4 100 MW.
Green hydrogen, a clean energy source made from water and renewable power, could become competitive in a decade, according to French utility Engie. That relies on Europe setting up the necessary regulatory framework to drive up demand and slash costs, Sebastien Arbola, the company’s head of thermal generation and energy supply, said Tuesday in Paris. The “tipping point” for renewable hydrogen to compete with gray hydrogen — which is made from methane and emits carbon — could be in 2030-2035, he said.